Gami Pushes for More Feminine Energy in Miami Dance Music

Gami dreams of one day spinning at Space. The 23-year-old Miami native wants to hoist her city out of its tech-house and EDM rut and explore new ideas bubbling up in dance music.

"There's not a huge interest in the music that I'm bringing into the city yet," Gami laments.

Gami, a transgender woman, would like to see more like her behind the decks. Years ago, when she used to sneak into Score, one of the few remaining gay venues in South Beach, she knew the place wasn't for her. She's six feet tall and thin, with long hair dyed highlighter pink — a far cry from the hypermasculine display that usually dominates Score's dance floor.

So Gami last year founded the collective Internet Friends with fellow DJ Keanu Orange to bring Miami the kind of events she believed the city was lacking.

"There were so many people there. We didn't expect it to do that well."

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The collective has quickly evolved from hosting its first party at the 229 warehouse in Little Haiti to helping pop star Charli XCX execute her Femmebot Fantasy party series at the club 1306. The goal of Internet Friends isn't simply to throw awesome parties; it's to represent femme DJs, producers, and artists who feel they've been swept aside by Miami's Latin machismo.

"I would see all these people [in different cities] online at parties and cool event flyers, and I wanted to bring some of that here," Gami says. "We have such a beautiful blank canvas here that I was like, OK, since nobody else is going to do this, I might as well start."

Gami instantly touched a nerve. The debut of 229's event brought one of the largest crowds the warehouse had ever seen. "I was nervous, but we had a lot of love the first night," she says. "There were so many people there. We didn't expect it to do that well."

The fact that underground artists rarely visit South Florida shows the city needs Internet Friends. The city should better cater to queer, transgender, femme, and gender-nonbinary people, as well as people of color. "Miami isn't inclusive," Gami says. "We aren't taking care of the full spectrum of artists."

Gami is trying to "teach Miami how to dance" to other genres of music. When she gets behind the decks, she brims with excitement as she plows through a genre-bending set that features everything from 2000s pop to the latest vaporwave successor. It's challenging, but Gami never loses sight of the main goal: Keep it danceable.

"You can't be stuck in 2007 and be listening to the same exact music you've been listening to the last ten years. And if you are in queer culture, you definitely need to keep up with the kids, because that's the next generation."

Gabriella Katia | Janet Jones